Set aside plan

[RoseStones]

I heard on our local radio this morning that there are plans afoot to re-introduce set-aside land as 5% per farm. This is to be part of a package that also addresses tougher restrictions on the use of certain pesticides.

To me it all sounds good as the value of set aside was proven when it used to be set at 10%, prior to it being phased out a few years ago. There's a piece in this month's BBC Wildlife magazine about it and there's one group that has calculated a reduction of 50% in the breeding habitat of winter farmland birds as a result of the abolition of set aside.

I'm no economist but surely enforcing 5% of land to be set aside is a good thing at a time when the pressure on protection of wildlife in the UK has never been more paramount (Trump golf course etc)? We waste a third of what we eat yet we are arguing over reducing productive farmland from 100% to 95% - it hardly seems like the end of the world. I acknowledge the need to grow more produce in our own shores but surely if we reduced our food wastage just a fraction we could easily find room to allow some of the species that we cohabit this country with to exist where they're rightfully entitled to?

Chris Packham did a really interesting programme on BBC4 back in the summer that probably flew straight under the radar by virtue of being on a small digital channel. In it he argued that the UK has allowed large parts of its landscape to become dominated by large scale, mechanised, monoculture farmland that provide virtually no habitat for our indigenous wildlife. Consequently we've seen huge population declines in many bird and mammal species. He now apparently lives in France where it's far easier to spot wildlife (so he says).

I wondered if anyone else's heard any more about the details of these proposals?

[Meta menardi]

Set aside was set at zero about this time last year, partly as a response to high grain prices. At the moment grain prices have fallen quite a long way. This grain is the harvest for last years planting, i.e. the first year without set-aside.

If I decided to drive my car by setting the accelerator to full on, and control the speed by madly stamping on the brakes, I would be thought to be foolish. If I control crop output by putting on as much fertiliser as I like and randomly not growing quite so much, this is a sensible agricultural policy.

[nightshade]

I used to shoot on set-aside, as wildlife always moved in in sufficient numbers
to make it viable.
Having reformed and taken up the cudgels to protect wildlife, I know now (shame it took so long)just how important set-aside is in this high pressure agricultural environment.
Meta Menardi hits the nail on the head

[KeenTeen17]

we studied agriculture at GCSE geography. in specialised areas - e.g on limestone soil, farmers are paid to leave a piece of land unattended so that flora and fauna are able to thrive.

Its a great idea and should help some struggling species

[RoseStones]

Is there any option for a petition on this? I read that as a suggestion on the Trump golf course post. Whilst I completely agree with the sentiment of that post too I want to raise the profile of this post as, whilst it doesn't contain a megabucks 'bad' guy as such, it will impact a much greater area of land (5% of all farmland in the UK).

[Meta menardi]

Originally Posted by RoseStones

Is there any option for a petition on this? I read that as a suggestion on the Trump golf course post. Whilst I completely agree with the sentiment of that post too I want to raise the profile of this post as, whilst it doesn't contain a megabucks 'bad' guy as such, it will impact a much greater area of land (5% of all farmland in the UK).

I think the petitions bit on WAB is more to help you promote existing petitions. I also think that you need to research the set-aside thing a bit more fully, it is very complex and I am slightly out of the loop on this right now (8 months away from it leaves you quite lost). Set-aside has been changed, and the rules change, a great deal. Don't want to seem to be a wet blanket, but an unfocussed petition won't help. I don't think anyone knows what will happen with set-aside next.

[shaneweaver]

I think that the petition is very complex. Set aside has been changed. It is absolutely unpredictable with the set-aside next.

[Elliotts]

Originally Posted by KeenTeen17

we studied agriculture at GCSE geography. in specialised areas - e.g on limestone soil, farmers are paid to leave a piece of land unattended so that flora and fauna are able to thrive.

Its a great idea and should help some struggling species

Well really its a very good idea as, i had seen it myself also. That's why i know that fauna and flora are special thrive.



Green Energy

[muscardinus]

Originally Posted by Meta menardi

Set aside was set at zero about this time last year, partly as a response to high grain prices.

I was talking to a farmer at a New Year's Eve party and he said the same thing - the drought in Australia and shift to biofuels apparently contributed to a crash in global grain output and in turn to a rise in the grain price per ton...

...it made me realise how interconnected everything is nowadays. That a drought on the other side of the world can lead to less set-aside in the UK, so yellowhammers end up getting hammered.

BTW It was a actually a great party - we didn't discuss grain prices all night.